Norwalk Election 2021: Alexandrea Kemeny For Board Of Education

NORWALK, CT — Election Day is approaching fast, and a number of key positions in town will be on the ballot.

To help readers make an informed decision on Nov. 2, Patch has reached out to local candidates to share their views on a few topics.

Independent Alexandrea Kemeny, 68, is running for the Board of Education in Norwalk.

Occupation: Retired Teacher

Family: My daughter Hannah Daley, age 26, works at Indeed.com in Stamford, Connecticut.

Experience: N/A

Family in government: No

The single biggest issue in town is ______, and I plan to do this about it:

The Diversity of Educational Need in Norwalk’s Educational System.

Diversity is a good thing making us a vibrant and exciting community and building cultural awareness in our students, but diversity can create issues of inequity. Equity in education means students are provided with what they need to succeed.

Children should want to wake up in the morning and be excited about going to school. It should be a happy, safe place. We need to get back to teaching students on their level and THEN moving them on as they understand each concept. An equitable classroom is one where children are given what they need to succeed. Often, that means more time to absorb content and the differentiating of material. When students are pushed along without grasping concepts, it creates anxiety and frustration in the classroom which leads to the social and emotional problems many of our children are having.. *Some solutions in follow-up answers.

Critical differences between me and my opponents:

Experience: I taught for 31 years in the Norwalk Public Schools, so I know the system from the inside out. I have endured the ever changing philosophies implemented through the decades. I have experienced the continued changes and institution of unproven teaching systems that were the “latest thing” only to see them discarded when the new improved “latest program” comes into play with a new regime.

Cut to the chase: I am well-versed in all the latest “buzz words”. Adopting new language and euphemisms is no substitute for requiring schools to produce students who can read, write English and be proficient in math. “Future-ready” is the current buzz word – but what is its definition? I define that as preparing students to succeed into the next phase of their life; be it vocational, technical, military or college.

Concrete ideas: Readiness to learn for all incoming English as a 2nd Language Learner students (details in question#5). Apprenticeships with local contractors and businesses. (details in question #4) Actively recruit minority teachers- not just wait for them to apply.

Time for the job: because I’m retired, I’m willing and able to devote to my time research and seek out solutions to resolve our issues.

Accomplishments:

1. 31 years teaching in the Norwalk Public Schools.

2. Founder and Vice President and Teacher for 34 years of the non-profit Crystal Theatre in Norwalk- a performing arts school

3. I worked with DCF, fostering several children over a 10 year period

4. I served 13 years on the Board of the “Open Door Shelter

5. 11 years as a professional performer/singer touring the country and world and interacting with all levels of people including 3 USO tours overseas to the Far East and the Mediterranean

6. Studied in Budapest, Hungary for 2 years as an opera student not speaking a word of Hungarian. I can relate to the plight of our students who don’t speak English.

Other issues:

I believe each student should be treated individually. Due to the diversity of our students, each have different strengths and interests.

All students are not destined for college. There should be opportunities made available for ALL students. But they are given no alternatives, except the military which is a good option for some.

There should be vocational opportunities to foster students to become productive members of the community. As a Board we should:

1. Develop curricula that supports vocations like math for carpenters/medical care classes for nurses’ aides/pre-school internships for day care with classes on developmental growth/ elder-care internships

2. Develop partnerships with local businesses that allow students to shadow them during a typical day, giving opportunities to students to experience various trades as plumbing, electrical work, oyster fishing, welding and the list can go on and on.

3. Hiring career/vocational counselors (different than social workers) that have a select group of at risk kids that they team up with in 9th grade, following them through graduation. These career counselors would facilitate field experience, advising and offering vocational opportunities for these students to experience.

What else would you like voters to know about you?

An average day in an elementary school classroom consists of almost 7 hours. Plenty of time for our students to receive a quality education. But we’re not succeeding regardless of what rosy picture others are telling you. Just look at our test scores!

One reason for this is classroom composition. Ex. A 5th grade classroom:

24 students. “4 “read at a 1st grade level, “6” read at a 3rd grade level, “2” on a 4th grade level, “8” on grade level, “2” exceeding grade level, and “2” non-speaking English students. How can you make a classroom equitable with such a diverse range of needs? Students are pulled out of class for social intervention groups, for Strings, for Band, for Resource, and MLL (Multiple Language Learners) . When does the teacher find time to teach a full class a lesson? And when she finds time, how does she address the different levels of the students simultaneously?

Policy needs to figure out a more efficient system for classroom composition so all students’ needs can be individually met. This, in turn can narrow the academic gap.

Another issue I feel strongly about is the policy (or lack thereof) of our English Language Learners. I’ve lived in a foreign country for 2 years where no one spoke English at that time. I was near 20 years old. I know first hand what it feels like when you don’t understand what people want from you or what they are saying. Many of our non-English speaking children have never even been to school in their home country and can’t even read in their native language. We throw them into a classroom hoping they acclimate. This doesn’t help their needs and takes away efficient time in the classroom to meet their adjustment period. There needs to be an orientation program in place at a centrally located building (perhaps a pod at the newly renovated Jefferson school) where their needs can be met. They would learn some basic English, get Medical care and help with any social issues that they may have. Then after this orientation period, they would be placed in their home school.

Another issue that needs addressing is a financial one. The State uses a formula called ECS (Educational Cost Sharing) to determine how much money each city gets back from their taxes to fund their school systems. Norwalk gets $938 per student while Hartford is given $10, 000 per student in their city! 60% of our students are free and reduced lunch. Something is not equitable here and we should be getting our fair share. I have no solution for this but our property taxes will never cover the funds we require to meet the needs of each Norwalk student. We need to call on our elected officials to represent our needs in Hartford.

Final issue Pre-school for lower income “free and reduced lunch” families. Kindergarten students arrive to the first day of class with wildly divergent capabilities. Some don’t know red from green while others know the entire alphabet. These children start off behind the 8 ball before they even start, sometimes never catching up.